The mice will play
by YulianaHenderson
Summary: What was the saying again? "When the cat's away, the mice will play?" Oh, yeah... guess Jane and Lisbon didn't think about that when they went out to celebrate their tenth anniversary. And now, their kids are in trouble. Will all of them be able to... survive, this situation? Fic written for Silver Rosebud. Established Jisbon, set ten years from now. Rated T, just to be save.


**A/N: This is the first time ever that I'm writing a fic for somebody other than myself, and I have to say, it makes me pretty nervous. It's a challenge, literally, and though I most times don't have a lot of trouble with writing stuff, I do have trouble when writing stuff I didn't come up with myself. So this story could be truly crappy, but I at least tried :D.**

**Anyways, this story is mildly based on the amazing movie Home Alone (and though the movie is older than me, I still like it! :D), but still in the style of The Mentalist. You might need a lot more imagination to be able to move yourself into the situation I've created here, but tell me you'll try :D.**

**Story written for the amazing Silver Rosebud!**

**Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.**

* * *

**"When the cat's away,****_ 'the mice will play'_****"**

"You called Cho, right?" Jane asked Lisbon when she walked into the kitchen. She had her hair in a simply bun, and she had even donned a dress for the occasion. Lisbon never wore dresses - it was a shame to ruin that by having to stay at home for the kids.

Lisbon nodded, and pressed the button on her phone to unlock it. She sighed out of frustration and then dialed a number.

Jane sat down on a chair and crossed his arms.

"You're cute when you're angry, you know that-"  
"Yeah, well, I'm about to turn freaking adorable," Lisbon hissed, and Jane rolled his eyes.

"Great preparation by the way, Mrs. Jane," Jane teased, and when Lisbon shot him an angry glare, he shut up but not without putting on a pout.

When Cho finally answered, and Lisbon started scolding him, a small figure appeared behind her and Jane jumped up.

"Alex, why are you out of bed?" Jane asked. Alex shrugged.

"I thought you and Mum were going out," Alex replied, his voice heavy with sleep – which was a surprise since he hadn't been in bed for half an hour. Jane shrugged as well.

"Mummy called Uncle Cho to keep an eye on you but he's not here yet."

"So that's why Mum is screaming at him?" Alex asked, and Jane smiled. He nodded.

"And that's what Mummy's job is, so why don't we leave her alone and you go back to bed. You should've been there already, you rascal," Jane whispered, and then ushered Alex out of the kitchen and onto the stairs. Alex barely managed to lift his feet, but Jane knew not to carry the little boy because that would cause both minor injuries.

The nametags on the doors in the hall indicated they'd reached the top of the stairs, and Alex walked absentmindedly into the room with the blue letters 'Alexander' on it. Alex crawled into his Pirates bed – shaped in a little ship - and when Jane turned off the light in the room, he was sure Alex was already almost asleep.

Jane closed the door, and checked on his little princess behind the door with the pink letters 'Amanda'. She was vast asleep – but she was good in pretending to be asleep. No surprise whom she got that from.

"Patrick," Lisbon whispered from the foot of the stairs, and Jane poked his head around the corner.

"Summer has been in an accident and Cho can't come."

Jane sighed, and descended the stairs. Lisbon was about to take the bun out her hair, when Jane stopped her arm mid-air.

"Don't do that. We can manage something. They're ten now – not to mention, _asleep_. There doesn't have to be anyone actually _in_ the house to make sure the two don't burn it. We can ask the Lindbloom's from across – Mrs. Lindbloom asked me countless of times how the twins are doing. I'm sure they won't mind checking on them tonight."

Lisbon sighed. "I just don't like it that everything has to be arranged last minute. I asked Cho last week-"

"I know, but let's not be upset about that now. Precious time is lost because of this. And I'm not going to celebrate ten years married in a hurry, Teresa. I'd waited for a decade already to be actually married to you. I love you too much to do that."

Lisbon rolled her eyes.

"Cheesy-"

"But true. Now, I'll go to the Lindbloom's, you'll stay here and inform the twins."

Lisbon was about to make some witty remark about her being the boss in this relationship, but Jane already opened the front door and was gone with the speed of light. Lisbon shook her head, and went upstairs.

As soon as she entered Alex' room, Mandy was behind her. Apparently, the kids were used to Jane checking on them from time to time, but not their mother – Jane had the slightly annoying habit to check on the kids too many times just to make sure they were still there. And since Lisbon was wearing four-inch-heels – not her choice – it was unmistakable who was in the hall now.

"What's wrong Mummy?" Mandy asked. Lisbon shook her head and sat down on a treasure chest. Mandy sat down beside her, expectantly.

"Cap'n Alex, you care to join us too?" Lisbon asked, and Mandy chuckled when Alex wiped at his eyes, quietly groaning. He nodded, and sat up, facing Lisbon and Mandy.

"Okay, you know Daddy and I were going out tonight, yes? Well, we asked Uncle Cho to babysit, but he suddenly can't come because of Aunt Summer – she was a bit naughty. Now, Daddy is across the street to ask Mrs. Lindbloom if she could keep an eye on you two. You just go to sleep, and if you need anything, you can always call her or walk to her house. You can also call Daddy and me. You understand that?"

The dark-haired twins nodded.

"I trust you. Don't ruin it," Lisbon said, placing a kiss on Alex' head and then grabbing Mandy's hand and guiding the girl back to her room.

As soon as Mandy was tucked in the bed by Lisbon, the little girl opened her mouth to say something – and when she wanted something, she sure as hell got it.

"Mum, are you and Dad going to kiss tonight?" Mandy asked, and Lisbon glared at her daughter before chuckling.

"Probably, yes."

"But don't you love us anymore?"

Lisbon frowned. "What do you mean, Sweetie?"  
"If you kiss, then you get a baby. That's what Suzy told me."

Lisbon laughed, and stroked the girl's cheeks.

"Ah, like that. Well, Daddy and I still love you and Alex very much. And we won't get a baby anymore – we'll be very careful, okay?"

Mandy smiled, and then nodded.

"It's not that I don't want you to have a baby," Mandy quickly said. "I want a baby sister."

Lisbon smiled a faint smile. "I know, Mandy. But I can't get babies anymore. I'm too old-"

"You're not too old!"

Lisbon chuckled. "I am though. That's okay. I've got you and Alex."

Mandy sighed, fell back on her pillow and closed her eyes. Lisbon smiled and shook her head, before leaving the bedroom and descending the stairs – of course Jane looking as she did so.

"Mandy wants a baby sister," Lisbon murmured, and Jane smiled.  
"I know, she told me many times already. She's not the only one – Alex would love it as well. And _me_..."

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "You know I can't-"

"You say that every time, but that doesn't mean I can't stop _wanting_, Teresa. You know how much I love you. And children. Another little you walking around here wouldn't hurt..."

"Okay, could Mrs. Lindbloom watch the kids?" Lisbon interrupted Jane, and he smiled before giving in.

"Mrs. Lindbloom almost proposed to me out of complete joy – so yes, she agreed to keep an eye on the two. We're too late for the restaurant, but maybe we can see a movie?"

Lisbon sighed, and nodded. "Fine. We get to behave like love-struck teenagers the entire evening. Happy anniversary," she said dryly, and Jane chuckled.

-YulianaHenderson-

"Alex," Mandy whispered from the doorway. Alex looked up.

"I want to sleep."

"And I _can't_ sleep, Alex."

Alex sighed, and sat up straight.

"Why do you come to me?"

Mandy looked around her, raising her arms. "Because you're the only one here?"

Mandy ran over to Alex' bed and dove on top of him.

"What are we gonna do? Mummy and Daddy are gone."

"We're gonna sleep," Alex groaned, but Mandy shook her head.

"We're not! You're boring," Mandy complained, and that did the trick. Alex shot up the full last inches, threw the cover off him and ran out of his room. Mandy chuckled and followed him. They ran inside the kitchen, and when Alex opened the fridge and got out the two liter bottle of Coke, Mandy's eyes widened. When Alex put the bottle on the counter – very carefully, they still inherited their short length from their mother – Mandy made a high pitched noise and climbed on the counter to get two glasses.

"We could watch a movie," Alex offered as he watched his sister fetching the glasses. He was behind her just in case she fell. "And no, not that Barbie movie."

When Mandy turned around, holding herself up at the handle of the cupboard, she had a pout on. She put the glasses on the counter and then gracefully jumped off the edge, landing safely on the ground.

"What movie then, oh Wise One," Mandy teased – the twins probably spent way too much time with their parents – as she picked up the two glasses and carried them into the living room. Alex followed her with the bottle, and as they sat down on the big couch, next to each other, they sighed.

"I don't know. Ice Age?"

Mandy shrugged. "Sure."  
They weren't even half-way through the movie when they got bored and put everything they were holding aside to jump on the couch – that was definitely something forbidden.

"I can jump higher than you because I'm bigger than you!" Alex shouted, and Mandy frantically shook her head.

"Mum can jump higher than Dad so I can jump higher as well!"

"You're just small okay."

"You're not even one pinky bigger than me! You're just mean!"  
They fell onto the couch, arms crossed, but when they looked at each other, they chuckled.

"That was fun. We should do that with Mum and Dad sometimes," Mandy said. Alex shook his head.  
"They don't like it when we do that."  
"I don't care," Mandy said, took a sip of her Coke and then ran to the window sill.

"Why do you even do that every day?" Alex asked as he ran after her.  
"Because my prince will come someday and I need to be ready when he does come."  
Alex rolled his eyes. "There's no prince-"  
"I don't care! Dad says that I'm Belle!" Mandy exclaimed, placing her hands over her ears and humming softly. She looked outside, and then suddenly froze.  
"What? What's wrong?"

Mandy pulled Alex towards her and made him look outside. Alex froze as well.

There was a shadow standing on the middle of the street, and it was looking at their house – or them.

The two were quiet, looking at each other, then ran to the phone and pressed one on the speed dial, then ran back to the window sill.

"Lisbon-"  
"Mummy there's a man standing on the road and he's looking at us!" Mandy exclaimed, interrupting Lisbon, and it was silent at the other end of the conversation. Alex and Mandy heard muffled voices, probably Jane and Lisbon discussing what was happening now.

"Are you sure, Sweetie?"  
"Yes!"  
"Can you see what he looks like?"

Mandy looked at the man, but then shook her head.  
"I can't."  
"Okay. Sweetie, I want you and Alex to get away from the window, close the curtains and call Mrs. Lindbloom, okay? It's probably nothing bad, but maybe Mrs. Lindbloom can ask the man who he is. Can you do that?"  
"Yes."  
"And don't go outside, you hear me?"  
"Yes Mummy."  
"I love you Sweetie. Don't worry, it's nothing bad."  
Mandy hesitated, and while she looked at Alex, his face full of fear, she swallowed. "It is something bad, right, Mummy?"  
There was silence again. "I don't know, Sweetie. Just do what I said, okay? And don't do anything stupid. And oh, put the Coke back into the fridge. Don't think that we don't know what you're doing. If the man is still there in thirty minutes, call me or Daddy again and we'll come back. Bye Sweetie."  
And with that, Lisbon ended the conversation. Mandy put down the phone, and jumped off the window sill. She pulled Alex with her.  
"You're gonna call Mrs. Lindbloom, I'm gonna hide my dolls. The Man can get me but not my dolls."

When Mandy was just about to leave the living room and run upstairs, Alex grabbed her by her elbow and stopped her.

"I'll protect _you_, Mandy," Alex said, his voice serious, and Mandy nodded.

"I know. But I don't need that, I can stand up for myself. I'm already ten, not a baby anymore."  
"I know that. We're twins, remember. And anyways, I'm older than you so I'm wiser," Alex said, and smirked when Mandy rolled her eyes and ran upstairs.

Alex sighed and leant against the wall.

The first night he and Mandy were left alone and then this happens.

-YulianaHenderson-

"Come on, calm down, Teresa. I'm sure it's nothing. Now don't get paranoid or whatever-"  
"Do _not_ tell me to calm down, Jane, unless you want to die. There could be a man hurting my babies _right now_, and you're telling me to sit down and watch this stupid movie. I'm so done with it, with your stupid attitude and your seeming lack of attention. They're _yours_ too!"  
Jane pinched the bridge of his nose.  
"Woman, don't play it like that-"  
"Like _what_? Like I care? Oh, yeah, I'm supposed to be here with you and let someone kill my children. Yeah, I forgot about that, Jane, I'm _so_ sorry."  
Lisbon grabbed her purse and jumped up, but Jane pulled her down.

"Stop doing that, Teresa. You're calling them in thirty minutes and when that man is still there, you can do your cop-thingy and be the shining knight in armor. Now, you stay here and let the kids and Mrs. Lindbloom take care of it. Nothing bad will come from giving in to some relaxing things."  
"You know, this is not going to relax me, but fine, since you drove us here, I don't think I've got a choice. I'm definitely not going to drive that contraption of yours."  
"That's my girl. I'm not saying I don't care about the kids, but they're watching too much TV nowadays and it could well be that they're hallucinating or something. They should've been in bed already, maybe they're just tired. They will handle, Teresa, trust me."

-YulianaHenderson-

"You can leave her out of the bed," Alex offered when Mandy tried to fit all her dolls on the bed, as well as herself and Alex. She shook her head frantically, but then realized that it really wasn't going to fit and she shoved all the dolls off her bed, casting them an apologizing glance, then sat down on the bed and covered herself with her princess covers. Alex joined her, and soon, they were sitting against each other, almost holding the other's hand.

"Do you think The Man is going to hurt us?" Mandy asked. Alex shook his head.  
"I don't know."  
"Do you think Mummy and Daddy are going to save us if The Man is going to hurt us?"  
Alex shrugged. "They are not here, so I don't know."

"Why did Mummy and Daddy leave us here alone?"  
"Because they wanted to kiss each other?"

Mandy chuckled, though it was a bit unsure.

"They can do that here with us too!"

"So that we get to see Mummy and Daddy kissing?" Alex asked, then shuddered, causing Mandy to giggle again.

They froze again, and Mandy grabbed Alex' hand.

"Did you hear that too?" Mandy asked, and Alex nodded. He gently squeezed her hand.

"It's nothing. If Mummy says it's nothing, it's nothing," Alex said.

Mandy suddenly jumped off the bed, grabbed one of her dolls and ran out of the room.

"Mandy, what are you doing?"

"I'm protecting my dolls," she exclaimed, and she ran down the stairs. When Alex followed her downstairs, and he saw Mandy was collecting all sorts of ropes, broomsticks and other unused stuff and threw them on a spot in the middle of the room.

"I didn't know you were an expert on catching a bad guy-"

"I'm not, but I once heard Mum talking to herself about all the ways she could kill Dad in, so I kinda know now what helps."

She instructed Alex what to do, and soon, they were all around the room, placing stuff that could fall on or wrap around The Man.

The phone rang, and both let out a high yelp.

"That's Mum," Alex stated and ran to the phone.

"Alex," he said when he answered the phone, and he could hear a relieved sigh at the other end.

"Is that man still there, Alex?" Jane asked, and Alex nodded.  
"Yes. Mandy and I are setting a trap to catch him."

"Oh really? Please watch out-"

"Jane!" Lisbon exclaimed, and then Alex heard the rustling of a phone being taken over from somebody else. "Alex, don't you dare do that, you hear me?"

"But Mum-"

"No, Alex, I don't want you doing that. Dad and I are on our way _now_, you stay inside and protect your sister. I know this smells like adventure for you, but I'm asking you not to search for adventure right now, okay. _Don't_ do anything stupid, just listen to me for once! God, you're like your dad sometimes. We're on our way," Lisbon said, and ended the call.

"Was Mum screaming?" Mandy asked, amused, and Alex nodded.

"She doesn't want us to make this trap."

"Does she want us to die?"

Alex shrugged. "I don't think so. Could you hand me that rope?"

-YulianaHenderson-

"Will he hurt us?" Mandy asked, as she and Alex sat under the kitchen table. Mandy was holding her favorite close to her, and had her eyes on the kitchen door.

"If he hurts you, I'm gonna hurt him."  
"Oh stop it, you're not my savior or something. You're just my twin brother."

"And that's why I'm here to save you. Didn't you want a prince?"

Mandy rolled her eyes. "You're not a prince."

They suddenly heard a knock on the door. They both knew who that was, but Mandy still liked to prove that it was _him_.

"Mummy?" she asked, but she got no reply. Definitely not Mummy.

The door opened, and the twins held their breath.

"Hello hello..." an unfamiliar voice said, and Mandy looked at Alex, terrified. "Lovelies... I know you're here. I even know your names, lovelies. Beautiful names, if I may say so. 'Alexander Brandon' and 'Amanda Genevieve'... Did your father choose those names? Pretty smart. B as initials for a boy, and G for a girl. Smart, really smart."

They heard footsteps walking further into the kitchen, and they stopped just beside the table – almost touching a thin line they spun that triggered the entire trap.

When Mandy opened her mouth to either say something or hyperventilate, Alex covered her mouth with his hand.

"I know how much your parents love you, both of you... Especially your dad. I'm sure he's happy to have a family after his last family... I've been watching you for a while now. It seems Patrick is less happy now than he was at your birth. Now guess why, lovelies."

Alex shook his head when Mandy moved to say something again.

"Alright then. You know why? Because he feels incomplete. He had his fill – temporarily. He wants another baby, but he knows that's not possible anymore for Teresa. He doesn't love you entirely anymore-"

Now, Alex was too late to stop Mandy.

"Of course he loves us!"

Alex looked at her in horror, and Mandy covered her mouth.

There was a silence, and then they heard a dark chuckle, and a hand lifted the table cloth.

"Hey there," the man said, peeked under the table, and then Mandy dropped her doll.

"Now, I'll tell you what I'm going to do with you. I'm going to take you away from Patrick, because he's selfish and he will never have satisfaction with what he already has-"

"How can you talk about Daddy like that?" Mandy interrupted.

"Mandy, shut up-"

"No! Who are you? Why do you hate our Daddy so much?"

"You have no idea who I am, you despicable little child. You don't _want_ to know who I am."

"But I _do_."

The man snatched Mandy's arm, and pulled her away from under the table. Mandy wasn't strong enough, but still tried to fight him.

Alex, who had been paralyzed with fear when Mandy had started to talk to the man, jumped at the man's leg, causing the man to fall over.

"Let my sister go!" Alex exclaimed, and when the man didn't take his hands off Mandy, planted his teeth in the men's leg. The man hissed of pain, and let Mandy go.

She ran towards the door and opened it, running into the street. Luckily, she saw the old Citroen take a turn into their street and even before Jane had stopped the car, Lisbon jumped out and into the direction of Mandy.

Lisbon pulled Mandy towards her and almost crushed the little girl. Jane carefully parked his car – Lisbon made a mental note to kill him for that later – and then ran to the couple as well.

"You go inside, I'll stay with Mandy," Jane said, and Lisbon nodded. She ran inside, and Jane turned to Mandy.  
"Is it that difficult to listen to your mother for once?"

Mandy didn't reply though, just hyperventilated, and Jane sighed. He pulled the girl towards him, and buried a hand in her dark hair.

"It's gonna be okay, darling. I'm here, Mummy's here. Mummy's strong, right? She will handle the man. Everything's fine."

Soon enough, Lisbon exited the house, with the man cuffed before her.

Jane and the man's eyes crossed, and Jane tensed.

"Lisbon..." Jane breathed, and Lisbon frowned. Jane didn't call her Lisbon anymore these days... he only called her Lisbon when the forbidden topic entered their lives... "Lisbon, this is him."

"This is who-"

"This is Red John."

Lisbon froze. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, he's sure," the man answered before Jane could. "And he's right. Well done, Patrick-"

"Lisbon, bring the kids inside," Jane ordered, and Lisbon was caught off guard by his snappy tone of voice – he hadn't used that voice in a decade now.

"Patrick, he is not worth it," Lisbon said, and Jane took in a deep breath.  
"He is-"

"He isn't. You're not alone anymore, Patrick. You've got me, and the kids. You put him behind you – _us_. Please, Patrick, don't do it. Please..."

"I'll call SacPD," was all Jane said, and Lisbon let out a sigh of relief.

The twins were in the kitchen, watching everything from the little window.  
They saw the man being arrested and taken away by officers, and then saw their father breaking down and collapsing on the floor, and their mother taking him into her arms.

"It's okay, Patrick. They're still alive," Lisbon whispered in Jane's ear, and he let the tears escape his eyes.

"They could've died, Teresa. I could've lost them - just like that. Just like I'd lost Charlotte. In ten years, he doesn't do anything, and the first moment in which we leave them alone, he comes and tries to hurt them? I love them too much for them to undergo the same thing as Charlotte..."

"I know, Jane," Lisbon replied, her voice soft, and she almost thought about humming before pushing that away - Jane wasn't a child anymore.

"Daddy?" Mandy asked from the front door, and Lisbon's head shot up to the place. Alex and Mandy were standing next to each other, holding hands. "Why are you crying, Daddy?"

Lisbon motioned for them to come closer, and pushed Jane away just slightly. The kids flung their arms around Jane, and immediately his breathing calmed down.

"It's okay. For all of you," Lisbon said, and wrapped her arms around the trio. "You know, I didn't want to tell you yet, but now is the best time, I guess. I know how much you all want a new baby..."

Jane's head shot up, and he shook his head. "No..."

Lisbon nodded, and Jane's sadness - or rather, fear - evaporated into thin air.

"Really? But... how?"

"I don't know, you should ask yourself. A clean-shot, I guess." Jane chuckled, before raising his hand and brushing her cheek.

"I love you so much, Teresa," Jane whispered, and closed the distance between them, not caring whether he crushed some children on his way. Jane and Lisbon were both sure that the kids didn't even understand what was happening.

This was going to take much, much longer to explain when everybody had calmed down from this.

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**A/N: Yep, I admit, this ended up ****_way_**** more Angsty than I had thought when I started writing it. I don't even know why. I just thought that a random stranger breaking into Jane and Lisbon's house was kinda stupid, so it had to be Red John. And since Jane is obsessed by said man, I couldn't have him acting all nonchalantly - that's just not Jane. And at first, I'd stopped this story at the moment where Alex and Mandy saw Jane and Lisbon hugging each other on the front porch, but I just ****_had_**** to end it a bit more happily, don't you think? :) And since I had already winked at that aspect of Lisbon's... body, I thought I'd bring that back as happy ending :)**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this story! I know, it's less amazing than normally, but that's because with most of my stories, I come up with the idea myself and I then know entirely what to do with it - now, I got the plotbunny from somebody so that was a bit more difficult. But I hope I still managed to make a good fic :)**

**Thanks for reading! And leave a REVIEW, thank you so much! **


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